LEAP 2: Critically Analyze Harmful Propaganda

How do you conceptualize harmfulness when it comes to contemporary propaganda? Create a screencast video that critically analyzes 1 example of harmful propaganda, applying what you are learning in this class. Post your work to YouTube and embed it in a Medium post where you reflect on key insights about your unique learning experience.

LEAP 2 (200 points)

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How do you conceptualize harmfulness when it comes to contemporary propaganda?

DUE: THURSDAY, MARCH 30 at 9PM

CREATE TO LEARN: Create a screencast video that critically analyzes 1 example of harmful propaganda, applying what you are learning in this class. Post your work to YouTube and embed it in a Medium post where you reflect on key insights about your unique learning experience.

Explore a Topic or Issue of Interest to Select a a Propaganda Artifact

Select a topic of interest to you and find an example of propaganda that you see as potentially harmful, dangerous or troubling. Explore the Mind Over Media website to find examples or search the Internet to find a propaganda artifact that you can productively analyze.

NOTE: Put your choice on this list to ensure that your choice is original. No duplicate examples are permitted.

Develop a Voice Over Script

Plan out the ideas you would like to cover as you write a short script. You must explain why you think the propaganda artifact you have selected is potentially harmful, dangerous, or troubling.

Keep in mind your target audience as you develop your narration: you are addressing young adults with an interest in propaganda and your purpose is to inform and to persuade. Your purpose is to help your audience have an “aha” experience as they encounter the propaganda example you have selected framed by your distinctive use of ideas and information to express a point of view. These practices may help you:

• Use creative brainstorming to generate ideas, building upon concepts and ideas you have encountered in the course.
• Be concise: Make sure your script word count does not exceed 450 words (3–4 minutes)
• Make sure your video has a strong beginning, middle and end.
• A strong thesis statement will help you create a screencast with the maximum impact on the audience. You may want to activate your audience’s feelings in order to make your point but you are primarily informing them to offer your own personal interpretation.
• As you develop your work, get feedback from peers during the production process to make sure your work accomplishes its purpose.

Select Images to Accompany Your Screencast

A screencast is a video that includes a voiceover plus images from your computer screen. You will probably use a mixture of still and moving images that you gather to illustrate ideas about your propaganda example.

Rehearse and Produce Your Screencast

Rehearse the timing and sequence of the spoken script as you combine it with video and other images. It takes some practice to make a good screencast, so you should plan on making a practice screencast to experiment with what’s possible. A simple screencast can be made using PowerPoint plus a free screencast tool. Watch a 3-minute video video tutorial that demonstrates the basics of how to use Screencast-o-Matic. However, you can use any screencast or video production tool for this project.

Compose a Reflective Essay

After you have completed your video, post the script of your screencast to your Medium blog post and then compose a short essay (500–750 words) that briefly describes your rationale for selecting your example of harmful propaganda. Describe your creative process, including the struggles and the creative breakthroughs you experienced.

Upload and Embed Your Completed Video

Post your LEAP 2 work to Medium. Be sure to include a Feature Image, 5 tags, and a Works Cited list with all the sources you used in composing your analysis. Submit your Medium post to our class website, Propaganda COM416. To share your screencast video, use your Gmail account to access your YouTube account and upload your video there. Choose to set privacy settings to “public” or “unlisted.” Link or embed your video on your LEAP 2 Medium page, using design features to make the page attractive.

Review the Work of a Peer

Then review the work of at least one other student and offer warm feedback via Twitter using the hashtag #COM416.

Criteria for Evaluation

Make sure your work meets these expectations before submitting your paper. Click on the items below to review that your LEAP 2 project is posted our class website and meets these expectations:

• I have selected an example of contemporary propaganda that I believe is problematic or harmful and explained my point of view about it.
• I have analyzed the propaganda example by considering how it has been constructed and how it may affect audiences. In analyzing the propaganda, I make use of theories, ideas or information from the course in constructing my work.
• I have composed a 3–4 minute video that uses voiceover narration and a sequence of images to develop my analysis, which includes a thesis statement and a sequence of ideas that creates an “aha” experience for the viewer.
• On my Medium page, I have included my screencast and a brief blog post that offers a reflection on my creative choices. I use a Works Cited list to identify the information sources I used in my work. I have included a Feature image and 5 tags and submitted my Media page to the Mind Over Media class website.